Come on now! Is there really an "Epstein connection" to our strategy?
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Yes, and Thomas Massie shows us all how the Epstein scandal has just one degree of separation from one of our key strategic ideas.
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Some people say our strategy to pass our three powerful bills – the OSTA (One Subject at a Time Act), the RTBA (Read the Bills Act), and the Write the Laws Act – won't work because Congressional leaders will never let them come to a vote.
A current feud between Representative Thomas Massie and Speaker Johnson, regarding the Epstein scandal, shows us the way.
Remember our strategy
Here are three key parts…
- Recruit people to pressure Congress.
- Gain co-sponsors for our bills, one by one, until we have a Congressional majority.
- Use a "discharge petition" to force a vote, even if Congressional leaders object.
Now, let's see which of these three has...
The Epstein Connection
Representative Thomas Massie recently provided us with a proof of concept. He filed a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill to require public disclosure of the Epstein files.
Wait, that vote didn't happen! That means the discharge petition didn't work, right? Yes and no. Speaker Johnson had to do something tricky to avoid the vote.
He ended the Congressional session early!
This ought to make you wonder what will happen now that Congress is reconvening. Because...
Just this morning, Thomas Massie held a press conference announcing that three other Republicans were joining nearly all the Democrats (according to Rep. Ro Khanna) in signing the discharge petition.
I believe this demonstrates the effectiveness of a discharge petition. It's one of the few powers rank-and-file members can use to control their own leaders. Otherwise, Congress is pretty much a dictatorship; the leaders call all the shots.
But this isn't the part of our strategy that's challenging.
The Real Challenge
Nearly everyone in America agrees with two of our bills (OSTA and RTBA), and a majority agrees with the third one.
But people don't flock to your door just because you build a better mousetrap. Our Agenda Setter strategies – The 300 and Option Activism – require...
- An advertising program that cost-effectively recruits The 300.
- A media program to achieve greater visibility and demonstrate the popularity of our bills.
- A large donor fundraising program to fund these two things.
Frankly, it galls me that something so direct and even simple has eluded my reach! But doing steps one and two requires more resources than I currently have – especially my schedule. Two employees receive monthly pay of hundreds (not thousands) of dollars – our office manager and I. I get additional help publishing these messages and maintaining our website.
My primary work, which involves more than a half-dozen other projects, leads me into many interesting relationships. I've kept the doors open, hoping that we'd get a break and a restart.
- On two separate occasions, I thought we had another organization ready to acquire us and continue the plan.
- On another occasion, I pitched to a donor capable of funding the first two years of steps 1 and 2 above.
Then, over the past winter, I invested $12,000 in an existing email subscriber audience. The goal was to integrate them. If I were to judge the results so far, we are unlikely to recoup that investment. Maybe that will still pan out over time – some of them are reading this message.
I know the rest of our strategy is sound. We'll need The 300 and Option Activism to pressure and persuade the more difficult members of Congress. But we need more visibility to recruit more people, and some new tactics to start acquiring the easier co-sponsors.
We're working on ideas to make both things happen. So stay tuned.
Set your own agenda,
Jim Babka, President
Agenda Setters by Downsize DC
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